Macià achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel during his military career. He condemned the assault of some Spanish officers on the journal La Veu de Catalunya in 1905. He was forced to abandon the army. [2]

In 1926 he attempted a revolt against the Spanish dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera. This uprising was based in Prats de Molló (Roussillon). It was aborted by the French Gendarmerie, but it gained a lot of popularity for his cause in Catalonia.

In 1931 Macià proclaimed the Free Catalan Republic in Barcelona. He was forced afterwards to settle for partial autonomy within the new Spanish Republic. Macià was the President of Generalitat from 1932 until his death in 1933. He is buried at the Montjuïc Cemetery in Barcelona's Montjuïc hill.